Melbourne City Council has announced this morning its plans for a massive expansion of Queen Victoria Market, which will also preserve the historic site. The Victorian Government has given the go ahead for Crown land at the southern end of the market to be added to the market as an extension.

According to the Lord Mayor’s statement, key upgrades to the market (which, incidentally, reopens as a night market on Wednesday, November 6) could include new public open spaces, event spaces, infrastructure for traders, improved car parking and pedestrian access. The market looks set to become a key events space (think Federation Square), to draw numbers in the evening and outside its usual hours of operation.

The Lord Mayor said that in the next 20 years the number of people living within 800 metres of Queen Victoria Market will almost double from 67,000 to 128,000. This renewal, it’s estimated, might generate 9,000 new jobs at the market, as well as 12,000 jobs in the surrounding precinct and thousands of construction industry jobs.

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